Here’s How to Get Tickets for Free Museum Day Around the U.S.

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This is our favorite time of year: when the oppressive summer weather has given way to autumn’s perfect crisp air! That means picking apples and enjoying a hike through beautiful fall foliage. So it takes something extra special for us to recommend you spend a gorgeous Saturday in September indoors, but that’s exactly what we think you should do this weekend. This Saturday, September 22, is Museum Day, and you can get into nearly 1,500 locations around the country—for free!

This year, the theme for Smithsonian magazine’s annual Museum Day (which we heard about at Mental Floss) is “Women Making History.” Museums and cultural institutions from almost every state will offer free entry on September 22 to anyone holding a Museum Day ticket, plus a guest!

You can search through all of the institutions involved at the Smithsonian website by location, name, or museum type, which include Air and Space, Art, Children, General, History, Natural History, Science, and Zoos and Gardens. Once you decide where you’d like to go, you have to confirm your name and email address, then your tickets will be available to download. Make sure to check beforehand if your museum will accept a digital ticket or if they require a hard copy.

Smithsonian warns “choose wisely,” because you can only get one ticket per email address and “there are no takebacks, once you select a museum” and “you will not be able to change your selection.” So make sure you are positive you are going to your top choice, and that you have at least one ticket for every two people. You might also want to get there early, because participating museums could fill up fast and have to turn some guests away, ticket or not.

And as much as we love being outside in fall, this is one time you’ll want to be indoors.

We love this program so much we want you to help make it even better. Search through the list of participating museums near you and tell us in the comments below which ones you think are most worth checking out!